Just as he was about to pick himself up and continue onwards, Ezekiel saw the sword changing direction towards him. He smiled, defeated.
How could an ordinary man like him dodge the blade of the monster before him?
Ezekiel inwardly laughed. To think he would almost entirely achieve what he has been chasing all this time, only to die soon after.
At least I killed two of them, Ezekiel thought, closing his eyes and preparing for his eternal rest.
At least, until death lagged behind than initially expected.
"Arrggh—"
Ezekiel's ears trembled with a groan, followed by the heavy, echoing clang of metal hitting the ground.
Ezekiel's eyes snapped open. He froze at seeing the Hero being impaled by the Demon lord's fist. He turned his head towards the Priestess direction and gained an understanding of how she had been killed, noticing her headless battered body and the dagger had impaled the back of her neck.
The Demon lord raised the Hero high with a snicker, "After all these efforts, you were betrayed by your comrade and still made to die at my hands; how miserable it was for you to have encountered such an unfortunate death. Now die!" The Demon's lord prana flared as he condensed it towards his right arm.
As the scene unfolded, Ezekiel stretched his left arm towards the Hero's sword that had fallen beside him.
"Don't even think about it; resistance is futile. Once I'm finished with him, I'll give you a swift death as a reward for helping me secure my victory," The Demon lord responded, not caring to look behind to cast a glance at Ezekiel as though he could already tell he was aware of his futile actions.
But Ezekiel was not one to be deterred away by mere threat!
He quickly sprang to his feet, grasping the Hero's sword. Then, he stabbed forward, aiming straight at the Demon lord's lower region.
"Bastard!!" The Demon lord cursed loudly and leaned to the side to dodge and deflect Ezekiel's daring attack.
But how could the final struggle of a man plotting his revenge for ten years be so simple?
Ezekiel's action caught the Demon Lord off guard as he leapt towards him with a cylindrical vial in his right hand. He wrapped his left arm around the Demon lord's shoulder and shoved the vial alongside his right arm into the Demon lord's frightening jaws just as the Demon lord was about to give his umpteenth warning.
The price for his attack––
CLAMMPP!! CRAACCKK!!
The Demon lord's jaws snapped shut on Ezekiel's right hand, cleanly cutting it away from the rest of his body.
"ARGHHH!" Ezekiel yelled in agony and spat out blood. He leapt from the Demon lord, who struggled to catch his breath with a look of fear, realizing what he had swallowed.
Trying to regain his composure, Ezekiel bit his lips until he drew blood.
"Heal," Ezekiel muttered. He felt his wounds beginning to seal in the most agonizing way imaginable. He was using a prana manipulation technique he had learned during his time here.
Picking up the Hero's sword, Ezekiel could feel his body throb with agony; he was about to lept forward again when he halted, his eyes fixed on the small vial that had appeared within the Demon lord's grasp.
Healng portion!
Ezekiel's eyes widened in realization at the contents of the vial. A troubled expression appeared briefly before it disappeared as he gritted his teeth and launched forward, the blade aiming at the Demon's lord's neck.
He wouldn't have attempted such a stupid feat if it were any other weapon. However, the blade in his grasp was the Hero's sword—a sword granted to him by his system, capable of cutting down any being or thing in its way.
SWWISSSHHHH!!!
Before the Demon lord could consume the contents of the healing portion, his head was chopped off from his body, causing his eyes to widen in shock as he tumbled in the air before landing on the ground.
However, Orion wasn't just stopping here; he moved again, slicing off the Demon lord's arms and legs.
"Haaaa…. Haaaa…." Ezekiel breathed heavily, trying his best to calm down his excitement as he looked at the Demon lord's decapitated corpse.
He had one damned job, and he executed it entirely.
Regardless, just to be sure that the Demon lord was genuinely dead, Ezekiel dragged out his corpse together. He then brought out frost dragon bladder poison from his inner pocket and poured it over the Demon lord's corpse. Utilizing his prana, he ignited it, causing it to flare up into a bright greenish flame that seared through the Demon lord's skin.
The Demon lord's corpse convulsed a few times violently before it was gradually stripped of its skin, flesh and bone, disintegrating into ashes.
"Cough! What are you doing?" The Hero asked, coughing out a mouthful of blood as he tried to crawl away from Ezekiel, who was approaching him quickly. He couldn't face him in his current condition and needed more time to heal before he could confront him.
For ten years, the Heroes' party had fought against the Demon lord and his minions and had fought without end.
Ezekiel knew from the beginning that without any interference, this battle would have ended with only one side emerging victorious.
Ezekiel swung the Hero's sword downward, cleanly beheading him with a single sweep. He raised the sword and swung downwards again, slicing his body into various parts before dragging them all towards the Demon lord's burning body and mixing them together.
Time seemed to come to a standstill as Ezekiel observed the ashen remains of the Demon lord and the Hero before taking a good look at his surroundings. He realized that both the Heroes' party and the Demon Lord were dead, neither side emerging victorious over the other.
The battle between the Demon Lord and the Heroes' party, which would determine the beginning of a new age for Eldoria, had ended, and the last one standing - its victor was...
"Me," Ezekiel said, laughing heartily at the top of his lungs as he collapsed onto the ground. "HAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!"